R.I. sees surge in new-voter registration

[ariesgem]

PROVIDENCE — A surge of newly registered Rhode Island voters — many of them young — looms as a decisive force in the March 4 presidential primary, especially in the tight Democratic contest between New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

More than 43,000 voters signed up over the last year, with about half of those (21,000) coming in the four months before the Feb. 2 deadline to register for the March vote, according to a Journal analysis of state voter files.

Of those 43,000, roughly 20,000 are between the ages of 18 and 29, a group once derided as stay-at-homes on election days, but since 2004 a group that has been casting ballots in increasing numbers.

Those new registrations are a vast increase over the numbers in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004, all presidential election years. For example, in the four months before the 2004 state presidential primary cycle, about 12,400 new voters were enrolled in the state, compared to roughly 21,000 in the four months that ended this Feb. 2.

New voters have never before been a foundation of a presidential primary victory in Rhode Island, a state where the contest was always held after both the Republican and Democratic presidential races have been largely settled.

This year, Rhode Island — at least on the Democratic side — is fiercely in play. The Obama and Clinton campaigns are advertising on local television stations, and both campaigns are preparing vigorous voter-turnout efforts.

In terms of putting together a get-out-the vote organization, Obama got a head start on Clinton in Rhode Island. Obama’s state director is Mike Dorsey, who spearheaded the 2006 turnout campaign for the state Democratic Party and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. But the Clinton campaign announced yesterday that she will stump here on Feb. 24, probably in the Providence area; Obama has yet to make a commitment to campaign here.

http://www.projo.com/news/content/new_voter_02-16-08_5791LHB_v41.37ef61a.html

[TalkAgain]

1. Thank you for the good news

[TexasObserver]

2. many of them young